Preaching to the converted chap, £1300 to get home focused our mind on the insurance small print in future.
The big surprise was that whilst the bike insurances wouldn't cover personal items, because they were locked in the bike, the travel insurance did!
Whilst it is not a theft, the onwards travel costs (which basically amounted to car hire, for which I was reimbursed but not for the cost of the fuel used, nor hotels) was - after I buckled the wheel on my 1100 Pan European in SE France - met in full by my comprehensive motor insurance. Similarly, the cost of recovering the bike first to a French Honda garage and then back to Honda in Chiswick, was also met by my motor insurer. I am confident that, had my bike been stolen and not had its wheel buckled, the motor insurer would have paid for a hire car, any revised ferry crossing costs and my safe arrival back in London.
Theft of personal possessions from a vehicle varies. For instance, theft (following force) of personal items from my motorhome are covered up to I think £500 under my motor policy. I’d also have cover under my Travel policy and under my home insurance policy. Theft from my Polo is, I think, limited to £100 under my motor policy. As ever, read your policies, as the policy may well be specific about the items insured, particularly under the motor policy.
Travel policies are, as you discovered, pretty wide in the levels of cover they provide. Of course most people (including me) buy them for the medical assistance and cover they provide. But, as you discovered, they can sometimes (often, even) extend to include the loss or theft of personal possessions, taken with you on holiday, up to and including theft from a motor vehicle, along with delay or cancellation cover and some third party liability cover, for example. It all depends on the cover bought and the wording.
There is now very little ‘small print’ in any personal insurances of any kind, indeed there is arguably none at all; the FCA regulator and / or consumer rights’ legislation has done away with it. The problem, if there is one, is when bods innocently (or deliberately) expect their insurer to indemnify them for all and any mishap that comes their way, irrespective of the policy they have bought. Mix into this that many bods do not understand the difference between an insurer and the broker (or online quotation engine) and / or fail to understand the differences between the policies they have bought, that the problems start.
If going away, you need:
A. Comprehensive motor insurance.
B. A decent mechanical breakdown insurance. Note: Many breakdown policies do NOT treat a crash / theft as a breakdown. They might well assist you (not least as they are set up to do it) but might well demand first that you tell them the name and details of your motor insurer before they start. They might well then contact your motor insurer and liaise with them as to who is paying for what.
C. A decent travel insurance.
D. Sitting at home a decent householders’ comprehensive insurance, as these will often (not always) have an extension in them for All Risks cover for items taken outside of the house. For example, you probably won’t take your carpets on holiday with you or when you go to see your mum in Rugby but you might well take your camera or lap top, your wife her engagement or wedding rings and her Kindke. You might have to pay a modestly higher premium to avail yourself of this extension. It will all be detailed in the proposal for insurance that you will fill in. Some policies don’t even ask you to be specific about the items insured outside of the house. Some simply say it’s X percent of the contents sum insured, subject to a maximum of Y any one item. Others might as you to list the items, giving each a value and sometimes ask that you provide proof of purchase, particularly for expensive items. Similarly, after a claim, you might well be asked to provide reasonable proof that you did indeed own three Hermes silk scarves, a Rolex Daytona AND a state of the art digital camera (with eight lenses) AND the world’s most powerful MacBook….. why? Because there is a lot of fraud out there. Hard to believe, but it’s true. The insurer WILL investigate it if they believe that the claimant is lying.
Will buying A, B, C and D insure you for every calamity you face in life? No…… but they’ll do provide for most of them, often very cheaply. Suddenly the £100 “Rip-off, mate” insurance premium, looks like very good value when you are presented with a bill of just £200 or even more so when the bill goes north of £1000.